


Sketches, Coffee, and Warm Smiles

by katherine1753



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Armitage Hux & Clan Techie are Brothers, College Student AU, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Techienician, art school au, background kylux, coffee shop AU, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 03:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16824031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherine1753/pseuds/katherine1753





	Sketches, Coffee, and Warm Smiles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darthkylorevan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthkylorevan/gifts).



Art school was going ok. One could say it was even going well. At least, that’s what Techie kept trying to tell himself. It was better than his forays into engineering, computer science, or biology. Most of the time, he was left alone and allowed to be alone. That was his favorite part about art school. He hadn’t had a single group project yet, no presentations either, and he hadn’t been punished for not asking questions in class like he had before he changed his major and left the science buildings for good. He was a couple of years behind most of the other students since it had taken him a while to get settled, but that was another thing he enjoyed about college: it didn’t matter. No one seemed to care about things like that. It was comforting. 

And if all else failed, he had Armitage there. Armitage had already finished his degree in engineering but had decided to give that up and pursue a masters in art. Techie still suspected part of the reason was to make their father angry. But Armitage had always had a knack for visualizing extravagant projects, and he excelled in all of his art classes. 

So things were finally going better than he expected, but then again, he tended to expect the worst. Art school gave him time to learn and practice the things that helped keep him calm. He got to sketch, he still got to work on digital platforms, and he even had a class that allowed students to work on their own projects and so he was able to continue his wirecrafting. 

But today, today Techie was struggling. More than normal, at least. His life-drawing class had given a homework assignment to find a stranger and draw them. That wouldn’t have been so bad, except it involved talking to the stranger, giving a small interview, discussing some points from last class, and getting their permission to sketch them. And then actually sketching them. After that, he’d have to take notes on their feedback. An hour at minimum with a stranger, and talking, and leading things, and it was all really stressing Techie out. 

There had only been a few previous projects involving outside people, all of which he had stumbled his way through or gotten help from Armitage. Armitage didn’t really approve, but he always had a soft spot for Techie and was still willing to help him out. One time he even let Techie draw him for an assignment as long as Techie altered his features to not be obvious. He had made up an identity for the not-Hux and had still passed that assignment with a decent grade. 

He shook himself out of his thoughts as he realized he was next in line at the coffee counter and mumbled his order at the barista. He took his coffee, shuffled to the furthest back corner of the coffee shop, and took over a little two-person table with his stack of sketchbooks and box of pencils. In the back, people tended not to bother him. 

He wondered if he could just sketch some people in line, and pass that off as his assignment. He’d probably still pass without the worksheet and interview...Techie sighed. Armitage would be disappointed. Disappointing their father was one thing, but Techie never wanted to let Armitage down, not when he had done so much to help him. 

He decided to pass the time trying to work up his nerve by sketching some of the patrons of the shop, not in full enough detail for his portrait project, but it helped him warm up and calm down. He was just loosely sketching, no one was really catching his eye yet. But the shop was slowly getting more crowded, a curse of the upcoming winter holidays. 

He scooted his chair a little more directly into the corner, using the walls behind him as a sort of defense. One of the baristas he saw pretty regularly at the shop brought him a refill on his coffee and he managed a nervous smile at her. He wondered if he could ask to draw her, since she seemed nice and even though he saw her almost weekly they were still technically strangers. But he didn’t want to bother her at work, he didn’t want to bother anyone really, so he ducked his head back down and kept sketching different people that came through the doors. 

Finally, a customer caught his eye. He was tall, burly, blonde, and scowling at the menu on the wall like he’d never seen one before. Something about him drew Techie’s attention immediately, and he began to sketch the man in an empty space on his paper. He looked a little familiar, like he had seen him once or twice on campus before, but he wasn’t sure. He became so engrossed in getting the stranger’s curls right that he didn’t notice the shadow looming over his table until it was too late. 

“Hey,” a deep voice sounded from above him, startling Techie enough to make him jump and drop his pencil. He scrambled to retrieve it before nervously glancing up at his interrupter, and of  _ course  _ it was the man he had been drawing, and of  _ course  _ his sketchbook was at a visible angle now. Blushing, Techie tilted the book towards his chest, hiding his work, and managed to make eye contact with one of the buttons on the man’s shirt. 

“Um,” Techie mumbled. “Hi?”

He looked about as uncomfortable as Techie felt. “Is this seat taken? Everywhere else is full.”

“Oh.”

“I won’t bother you or anything, I swear. I just needed somewhere to finish my research paper and I didn’t think it would be so crowded here.” 

Somehow, the giant student looked like a sad little puppy. Techie hurriedly gathered his supplies closer to him, making space on about half of the table. “Yeah, ok,” he answered finally, just audibly enough to be heard over the background noise of the packed coffee shop.

“Thanks,” the stranger said, obviously relieved. “I’m Matt, by the way.” He pulled a sticker-covered laptop out from his backpack that he kicked under his chair and hunched over it almost immediately. 

“Techie,” Techie mumbled back, still clutching the sketchbook with the incriminating drawings tightly to his chest. The guy,  _ Matt,  _ gave him a small smile in return. Techie’s gaze lowered back to his buttons, unable to hold eye-contact for very long without panicking. His mouth twitched to return the smile and he fidgeted with his erasers to distract himself. 

Matt began typing away on his laptop, and Techie found himself in an odd predicament. He wanted to finish his sketch, but he didn’t want to be obvious about drawing Matt (he had a  _ name  _ for his subject now, surely that would be enough to pass his assignment?). He debated flipping to a new page in his sketchbook, but that ran the risk of Matt seeing the page with him on it as he turned it to the back. So, unable to figure out what to do, Techie just froze. 

“Um,” Matt said after a while, and Techie realized he had been staring directly at him for an unknown amount of time. 

“Sorry!” Techie cried out; it was all becoming too much for him. He grabbed for his backpack, shaking hands piling pencils and erasers back into his little box. 

“Hey, no, you don’t have to leave!” Matt said quickly, looking as if it was his fault Techie was upset, and the concern on his face made Techie almost want to cry. “You were here first, I’m in the way, I can see if there’s any spaces at the library or something, I can just-”

“No! No, um, sorry, um…” Techie trailed off, halfway trying to put his supplies away and halfway wanting to stay. His gaze kept flickering up to Matt and back away again. He wanted to flee, he knew he shouldn’t, the decision was stressing him out. Matt was the most interesting person he had seen all day and he didn’t think he’d find anyone else he’d want to draw after starting on Matt’s sketch. 

“Are you an art student?” Matt asked, and apparently that was the right thing to do, because Techie could feel himself relaxing a little. 

“Y-yeah,” Techie mumbled, setting his box back on the table. He remembered Armitage’s encouragement of taking little steps. He could do this. “Um. What about you?” He breathed out a small breath in relief; he was managing a decent conversation. Armitage would be so happy. 

“Engineering. Mostly focusing on, like, mechanics and stuff.” 

“Oh. Yeah, um. Yeah I used to, um, for a semester I was. Also. Also trying engineering.” Techie could feel himself blushing again. 

Something lit up in Matt’s eyes. “Two years ago?” he asked, with a hopeful note in his voice. 

“Um. Yeah? Fall semester…”

“I knew you looked familiar! I think we had intro lecture together, the one in the big auditorium?”

“Oh,” was all that Techie managed to say. He was surprised that someone even saw him, let alone noticed him enough to remember him. It made him blush in an entirely different way. “Yeah. I switched to bio after that.” 

“Wow, and then art?”

“And then computer science for a year, and then art.” 

“That’s pretty cool,” Matt said, and he looked like he meant it. Techie managed another little smile at him. “Can I see what you’re working on?”

Techie hesitated, hands twitching to grip at his book a little more tightly. 

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. I keep forgetting. My trainer’s boyfriend always gets really mad when I ask, but I thought maybe it was just him, since I swear he’s just drawing Kylo doing his stretches all the time, otherwise why is he always at the gym if he’s not working out?” Matt rambled quickly. “Sorry. Never mind.”

“Kylo Ren?” Techie asked hesitantly. What a strange coincidence if Armitage’s Kylo was Matt’s trainer. Techie also knew for an absolute fact that Armitage was indeed drawing Kylo stretching. He claimed it was for anatomy practice, but Techie knew better. 

“Yeah! Do you know him? He’s the greatest,” Matt beamed. 

“Yeah, um. Yeah I know him. I know Armitage. He’s um. He’s definitely drawing stretches,” Techie tried not to laugh. He couldn’t believe this was happening. 

“Hux? Oh is he in your class?” 

“He’s my brother.”

“Wow!” Matt said again. “Small world!” 

Techie nodded. Took a breath. Matt felt less like a new person now. He hesitated once more and then the grip on his sketchbook loosened some. “I, um. I’m supposed to do a portrait for class. I’ve just been drawing little sketches so far though. Just, like. Of people. Here in the shop. To just warm up I guess? Um…” He held the book out a couple of inches, brought it back towards himself, then put it down on the table turning it towards Matt. 

As Matt looked down at the sketches, Techie very intently studied the floor beside them. 

“Wow Techie, these are really good! Like  _ really  _ good! Wait is that...is that me?”

“Y-yeah,” Techie flinched as he realized he was back to mumbling just like when Matt first sat down. 

“Wow,” Matt breathed in awe. “I don’t think anyone’s ever drawn me before.” 

Techie glanced back up. Matt didn’t seem mad. He seemed really bashfully happy. Which made Techie start to feel the same way. It gave him a small burst of confidence, enough to say “Um, I’m actually supposed to do a more formal portrait, with feedback and stuff, would it...would it be ok?”

“Of me?” Matt asked.

“Y-yeah?” 

Matt smiled a smile so warm Techie swore he could feel it. 

And he began to draw. 


End file.
